PVTIME – American solar cell specialist ES Foundry has completed a 2GW production line upgrade at its Greenwood facility in South Carolina, increasing the site’s total annual nameplate capacity to 3GW.
Picture: ES Foundry
The expanded plant is now dedicated entirely to the production of bifacial PERC solar cells and has entered full mass production, despite an initial delay to the original 2025 completion timeline. The company had previously announced its decision to adopt p-type PERC technology instead of the TOPCon cell format, which is widely used across global solar markets.
Company leadership emphasises that the most pressing requirement for the US solar sector is operational, scalable manufacturing capacity and resilient local supply chains, rather than speculative project announcements. Commissioning the upgraded 3GW production base addresses key weaknesses in America’s domestic photovoltaic supply chain, and the facility is already producing finished solar cells at scale.
Industry insight suggests that political constraints are limiting the adoption of TOPCon technology across the United States, which explains ES Foundry’s focus on PERC technology. Market participants anticipate ongoing competition between TOPCon and HJT architectures to determine future buyer preference for solar cell and module designs. This expansion is a significant milestone for US domestic solar manufacturing, supporting national initiatives to increase onshore production and balance local cell and module supply.
As a dedicated solar cell producer, ES Foundry will release all output from its new capacity onto the open commercial market. This open supply model sets ES Foundry apart from most contemporary US solar manufacturing developments, which typically run captive production lines to serve internal module assembly activities.
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